


The Private Laboratory

by h_nb



Series: Iva [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Dehumanization, Detached Whumper, Forced Tattooing, Kidnapping, Lab Whump, Lab setting, Mild Fingore, Restraining, Surgical Elements, Whump, Whumptober 2020, in the lab sense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-29
Updated: 2020-10-29
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:22:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27255631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/h_nb/pseuds/h_nb
Summary: Whumptober Day Twenty Eight, Alternate Eight: Adverse Reactions
Series: Iva [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1990072
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	The Private Laboratory

**Author's Note:**

> Dr. Florence Quinn is @highqualitynot's OC and is used with her perimission and help

Iva Nielsen was pretty sure they were still in shock, stepping out of the Uber and staring up the path that led to Dr. Florence Quinn's house.

I mean, it was Dr. Quinn. World renowned for her healing abilities, her philanthropy, her research. And Iva was getting to work with her, as they had for the past few months, but now it was meant to be more involved research, and they had been invited to stay at Dr. Quinn's home and help her with that research in her personal lab while doing so.

It was everything Iva had been dreaming of since they were a kid, and so it was an understatement to say they were excited to be here. "Stay cool," they reminded themself with a gleeful smile as they clutched their suitcase and began to walk up the path to their mentor's house. "It's just Dr. Quinn, you've been working with her for months, this isn't going to be any different, it's just... no. It won't be different, really. It's cool. You're cool."

Learning to work with Dr. Quinn had been a bit of a learning curve. Iva considered themself to be quite bubbly and excitable, especially around things they were interested in, which was something that Dr. Quinn most certainly was not. For all the charisma Iva had seen in her speeches and various talks, in working with her Iva found the revered researcher was far more quieter than she was in public, and much more serious. There were very few smiles that Iva saw from her, save for when something went _really_ well in their research, and even then those smiles were fleeting. Iva didn't really mind, it was Dr. Quinn, she could do whatever she wanted, pretty much. And Dr. Quinn never seemed to get _too_ annoyed with Iva's excitement when something they had been working on came to fruition, though Iva also knew to keep it toned down around the doctor.

Iva came to a stop at the top of the stone steps in front of a large wooden door, and took a deep breath. This was it. The up-close internship they had been waiting for, the opportunity to work with her hero and now mentor day and night doing studying cell regeneration and figuring out how to regrow healthy cells in damaged organs in an accelerated fashion. Iva knew it would probably take longer than the estimated time of a few weeks, but they were happy to stay for however long Dr. Quinn needed them. Iva knocked on the door, hand only shaking slightly. 

After a few moments, there were a few clicks of locks being turned, and then Iva was face to face with Dr. Quinn, who nodded at her.

"Mx. Nielsen," she said simply, stepping back in a silent invitation. "Follow me."

"Okay!" Iva's arm ached slightly from carrying the suitcase, and they couldn't stop the wide smile on her face as they looked around Dr. Quinn's home, following her through the first part of the house.

Dr. Quinn stopped, head tilted slightly as she looked at Iva's suitcase. "You can put that down, you don't need that," she said. She waited for Iva to let go over the suitcase before she turned and continued, shoes clicking on the hard floor. 

"Oh- alright, are we just getting right to work?" Iva frowned quizzically as she set the suitcase down, feeling kind of weird about just setting it down in the middle of the room. But maybe Dr. Quinn had housekeepers or something, and they would take Iva's bag to wherever their room was? They figured Dr. Quinn must be pretty rich, if the house was anything to go by. So Iva left their suitcase behind, and ignored the slight discomfort that lingered.

They followed Dr. Quinn through the house, out a back door and down a stone path swathed with hedges and overhanging trees that swayed and shifted in the breeze. At the end of the path was a glass door that led into the greenhouses Iva had caught sight of before they had entered the house. The inside of this first one was beautiful, with flourishing greenery and ivy that stretched up the sides, flowers blooming around them as Iva walked down the path and through the greenhouse, to the very back of the building and to a door that in most other greenhouses would lead to a storage shed, but instead opened to a set of stairs, and down into an enclosed hallway, fluorescent lights lining the space and a slight echo throughout it as they walked down. At the end, there was a second door, and Dr. Quinn produced a key from her pocket to unlock the door. Iva followed her in, and heard the door lock behind her.

"So this is..." Iva trailed off, looking around the room. It wasn't all that big of a lab space compared to the rooms Iva had gotten used to working in with Dr. Quinn. There was an operating table in the center, and a chair at the side of the room that Iva noticed had straps at the arms and legs. Their eyebrows furrowed as they took it in, turning their head to the other side of the room. There was a cot in a corner, and there were two doors, one made of glass that looked like it led into the greenhouse, and an open door that Iva assumed led into a bathroom. "This is your private lab?" There was an uncomfortable prickling underneath her skin, and she turned to look at Dr. Quinn, noting the locked door. "What are we going, uh, to do here?" 

"In the bathroom there's a hospital gown for you to change into. Leave everything else folded in the cabinet." 

Iva frowned, and laughed abruptly in confusion, not sure how else to react. "Uh, Dr. Quinn, I'm not- why would I do that?" 

There was an unfamiliar glint in Dr. Quinn's eyes as she gestured to the bathroom door. "Do it. Now."

"O-okay." Iva entered the bathroom, heart beating quickly as they tried to work out what was going on. They stood in the bathroom for a few minutes, staring at the hospital gown that had been placed on the counter. Questions lingered on their lips, but they weren't even sure what they would ask. So, worried that Dr. Quinn would come and check on them, Iva bit at the inside of their cheek and changed quickly, removing their jacket, shirt, pants, shoes, and socks. Iva kept their earrings in, some funky dice that clinked together when they moved their head. They folded everything up and placed it in the cupboard, keeping their phone in their hand. Then they exited the bathroom, eyes darting to Dr. Quinn. "So- what is this, what is- all this?"

"Get on the table." Dr. Quinn directed Iva to the table with a hand, but Iva's heart jumped in their chest and they shook their head.

"No- I'm not- Dr. Quinn." They laughed again, nervously. "Dr. Quinn, I'm your- assistant, not- I'm not a _subject_ , that's not-"

"Yes, you are." Dr. Quinn cut them off, and Iva noticed with wide eyes that she was holding a scalpel in her hand as she began to walk towards Iva. "Get on the table."

Iva hesitated for a second, then darted to the door, yanking on it. When that didn't work, and the lock kept the door firmly shut, Iva began to open her phone, quickly trying to access the emergency call feature. 

Dr. Quinn was already upon them, and she ran the scalpel through the side of Iva's arm, ripping at the skin and muscles within. Iva screamed in surprise, hand spasming and dropping the phone to the ground, call unfinished. Sharp pain burst in their arm as they stared in shock at the doctor who had been their hero and mentor, barely able to think through the unexpected pain. "Dr. Quinn- you- why did you-"

She looked almost fascinated, analyzing Iva's reaction as she yanked the blade out of their arm. "To the table." 

Iva bit the inside of their cheek hard enough to draw blood as they let themself be led to the operating table in the middle of the room. They climbed onto it with shaking hands, staring up at the bright ceiling as Dr. Quinn moved around them, strapping their ankles, wrists, and torso to the table. "Dr. Quinn, you can't- don't do this, please- I'm not a subject, I'm your- assistant, what are you doing, stop--" They could feel hot tears burning in their eyes, and slowly spilling over the sides of their face. They weakly pulled at the straps, but the material held firm, barely allowing them to move.

Dr. Quinn stepped back, and Iva felt cool relief wash over their arm as their wound was repaired, 

Turning their head to the side, the only movement they could do at this point, Iva noticed a familiar recorder on the table next to them. Even through their tear-filled eyes, Iva recognized it as the recorder that Dr. Quinn used during their research together, using it to note down observations and research while the two of them worked. It was running, and Dr. Quinn was talking over Iva as they moved around the room, out of Iva's sight.

"Subject 738665 shows an adverse reaction to their new facilities, as anticipated."

"I'm not a subject, I'm _Iva_ , I'm Iva Nielsen, I'm not- let me go, please, my name is Iva, I'm not a subject."

"You are not Iva Nielsen anymore." Dr. Quinn's face appeared above them, hands turned their head and Iva felt a strap come across their forehead, keeping their head facing the ceiling. "Your number is 738665."

Hands reached out and, one at a time, removed Iva's earrings, pulling the dangling dice away. Then Iva winced, trying to twist away from the prick of a needle that stung at the left side of her neck. Her breathing grew ragged as she felt something under their skin, and then Dr. Quinn lifted her hand Iva stifled a gasp as whatever was under their neck began to move, shifting and separating and taking shape underneath their skin until it settled, and Dr. Quinn's hand dropped. 

"There," she said, and a mirror was lifted in front of Iva's face, reflecting to another mirror at the side of Iva's head, and Iva saw the reflection of six numbers tattooed in perfect ink across their neck. Then the mirror was pulled away and Iva was just left with the memory of it. "Your numbers, 738665."

"That's not- I'm not numbers, I'm a person, you can't do this!" Iva struggled a little harder against the straps, panic making it hard to think rationally as the reality of this situation began to set in. "You can't do this, someone will come find me, someone will."

"Nobody is coming for you. We have experiments to run." Iva strained to see what Dr. Quinn was doing as more straps came down over their left arm, securing it to the point that Iva could only move their fingers, and even then just barely. "There's no time to lose on those shreds of hope you still have left."

"What- kind of experiments?" Iva's voice wavered, body trembling as they stared up at nothing.

"The limits of human pain. There is so much that can be done with these abilities that haven't been explored yet, and I'm going to learn it all."

Iva opened their mouth to reply, but the sharp pain of a scalpel slicing into their hand cut off all their thoughts, and as they felt the nerves and fragile bones underneath their skin shift unnaturally, they found they had no words left to say at all, only stifled screams that they tried their best to hold back, and ultimately failed to. 


End file.
